Can I color epoxy AFTER it has hardened?

[Frank Kalder]

I filled some large knot holes with clear epoxy and then planed it smooth. It looks terrible -- the epoxy is an ugly 'snot' color. Is there anyway to color it now after it has hardened? Would magic marker stick to it? any other coloring agent? paint?

I will stain and poly the table once the epoxy problem is resolved.

Worse case is I'll router it out and poor new (colored) epoxy in, but hoping to avoid that.

[Jim Becker]

Paint or a Sharpie is likely your best bet for this issue. Apply after you stain but before you top coat so that any witness lines can be "disappeared" into the top coats.

[Bennett Ostroff]

I agree with Jim. Sharpie or a stain marker, which can sometimes be more translucent. A few times I’ve used a dremel to sand/grind out a thin top layer of epoxy to replace it. You could then replace it with colored epoxy. It’s very possible a Sharpie would look better.

[Tom Bender]

Definitely make up a test piece and finish it completely or you will have color and gloss problems. In fact make a few. It's easy to rush or get lazy at this point but patience will be rewarded

[Phil Mueller]

To color fills (be it epoxy, wood putty, whatever), I use aniline powder dyes mixed with shellac and applied with an artist brush. I first coat the filler with seal coat. Then play with the dye/shellac to color. The nice thing is if the color isn’t right, you can remove it all with DNA and start again. Once satisfied, a quick spray with canned shellac seals it prior to top coat.

Here I was playing with colors to touch up a veneered piece with a few small voids I filled with grain filler.

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Some may find this a royal pain, but I actually enjoy the process.